Thursday, January 12, 2017

Trump's Dishonest Press Conference On 1/11/17 In Summary...

President-elect Donald Trump finally held a news conference, but as is typical, he often made claims that have been repeatedly debunked or discredited. Here’s a guide to 14 of his more notable statements, in the order in which he made them.

“It’s very familiar territory, news conferences, because we used to give them on an almost daily basis.”

Exaggeration. While on TV constantly he generally held news conferences only following primary contests.

“You saw yesterday Fiat Chrysler; big, big factory going to be built in this country as opposed to another country. Ford just announced that they stopped plans for a billion-dollar plant in Mexico and they’re going to be moving into Michigan and expanding, very substantially, an existing plant.”

False.

“When we lost 22 million names and everything else that was hacked recently, they didn’t make a big deal out of that. That was something that was extraordinary. That was probably China.”

China's hack of 22 million accounts at the Office of Personnel Management was front-page news.

“The Democratic National Committee was totally open to be hacked. They did a very poor job. … And they tried to hack the Republican National Committee, and they were unable to break through.”

Misleading. ... older Republican National Committee domains were also targeted but none of the information that may have been obtained was leaked. Comey said that the Russians “got far deeper and wider into the [DNC] than the RNC,” adding that “similar techniques were used in both cases.”

“Look at the things that were hacked, look at what was learned from that hacking. That Hillary Clinton got the questions to the debate and didn’t report it? That’s a horrible thing.”

There is no indication or confirmation this statement is true.

“This administration created ISIS by leaving at the wrong time. The void was created, ISIS was formed.”

Grossly simplified. ISIS was a response tp the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

“I have no deals that could happen in Russia, because we’ve stayed away. And I have no loans with Russia.”

Misleading. Trump's own son, DJT Jr., contradicts this statement.

“I have a no-conflict situation because I’m president.”

Essentially true.

“The only one that cares about my tax returns are the reporters. … You learn very little to a tax return.”

Tax experts say returns provide info and insight into and individuals finances in many areas.

“We have hundreds of billions of dollars of losses on a yearly basis — hundreds of billions with China on trade and trade imbalance, with Japan, with Mexico, with just about everybody.”

A basic misunderstanding by Trump. Increasing tariffs and starting a trade war would increase costs of goods to American consumers but would not result in America gaining money that has ben lost.

“Some states have over a 100 percent [premium] increase.”

Gross exaggeration. ... the most common plans in the marketplace in 2017 experienced an average increase of 22 percent. Oklahoma experience a 71% increase in health insurance premiums while Rhode Island saw only a 1.3% increase.

“I want to thank United Technologies which owns Carrier, but we saved close to a thousand jobs.”

Trump wrongly continues to count jobs that weren't leaving the USA for Mexico in the first place. False

“96 million really wanting a job and they can’t get. You know that story. The real number — that’s the real number.”

Bald face lie! Only 7.5 million are actively seeking employment. Trump counts retired folks and those under 16 in his quoted number.

“I think it’s a disgrace that information that was false and fake and never happened got released to the public.”

Pot calling kettle black. Trump was the leading purveyor of false “birther” claims, based on no evidence, that Obama was not born in the United States. He frequently claimed that Obama had spent $2 million to cover this up — a number he plucked out of World Net Daily, which promotes conservative-leaning conspiracy theories.

Trump has almost no credibility yet the conservative and GOP faithful seem blind to this truth. With just moderate effort spent in research Trump's basic dishonesty and lack of a normal ethical and moral compass is glaringly clear.

15 comments:

Truth for Trump is what he wants it be and what he says it is. Regardless of actual reality.

The good news is more people are beginning to see Don the Con for what he really is. The bad news is the country must suffer Trump and the damage he's very likely going to do over time. However long that turns out to be.

Let's say Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas mavericks in the NBA and a rumored Presidential Candidate in the future, or a guy like Bill Gates was to run for the presidency and win. Would we really expect them to divest of all their riches?

Is that a requirement for serving? If so, is that realistic?

As for Trump, what transpired was nothing like a real presser, and certainly had little or now truth from him, or a chance for reporters to follow up and fact check him.

No Dave we should not expect a person who obtained their wealth through activities PRIOR to becoming a public servant and President to divest themselves of their gains. However, when a person chooses to become a public servant their interests, if they are ethical, must become what is in the best interest of the country.

Conflict of interests laws must be strengthened. A President in the situation you describe should be required to divest themselves of and involvemnt. decision making, and financial gain during their term in office.

Trump is looking to define what real (legitimate) reporting and journalism is. By reaptedly calling legit news outlet like CNN fake and giving conspiracy heavy outlets like Breitbart and FAUX News ligetimacy we know what his agenda is. Don't we Dave?

RN: Increasing tariffs and starting a trade war would increase costs of goods to American consumers but would not result in America gaining money that has been lost.

Republicans love that we run huge trade deficits because it enriches the transnational corporations. DJT promised during his campaign that he wouldn't touch SS or Medicare but one of the first things Ryan wants to move on is cutting these programs. Congressional Republicans will not go along with fighting back in the trade war we are already in with China (and losing).

How so? An 1/11/2017 Atlantic article says "Numerous experts, most notably Norman Eisen and Richard Painter, who served as ethics lawyers for Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, respectively, and the constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe, have already voiced their disagreements in no uncertain terms, stating without reservation that Trump's continued ownership of his properties will violate the Constitution the day he enters office".

For those with even the slightest interest in history, the Roman Emperor Caligula stands out asan instructive example of politics, power and disaster. We note that if one searches forTrump and Caligula, 374,000 articles exist.

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